Get pumped over politics — but don’t get trolled
If you’re like most people, you probably know that Kanye West and Donald Trump have a budding bromance, that a porn star is making headline news and that a comedian prompted tizzies galore at Washington’s biggest annual navelgazing ceremony, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, last weekend.
But do you know which candidate for Orange County mayor wants to tackle gun control?
Or which ones are fans of redlight cameras?
Do you know who wants to expand the massive convention center for a fifth time? Who has serious plans for affordable housing? Higher wages? Public safety? Yeah, I don’t either. And I eat, drink and live this stuff.
That’s a problem — one I want to help fix.
See, we’re living at a time when people are as interested as ever in politics, thanks partly to our president.
That’s great. But many of us are focused on the wrong things. A pre-dawn tweet out of Washington. An inflammatory new ad in the governor’s race. The latest round of name-calling in a smalltime Florida campaign. We’re all being trolled. And me and my brethren and sistren in the media are chief enablers.
We write story after story about polls and fundraising reports — and much less about actual issues.
Instead of focusing on the issues that we know are important, we wait for one candidate to take out a 30-second YouTube ad bashing another — and then spend more time vetting petty claims than voting records. The tail wags the dog. In recent weeks, for instance, I’ve read multiple reports about candidates for state offices debuting ads where they tout their faith. “So-and-so touts faith in new ad.”
Frankly, I don’t care. And I’m not sure you should, either.
Don’t misunderstand me. I care about faith. I’m a lifelong Christian. But I don’t care what politicians
say about their faith … I care about what they’ve actually done to display it.
See, in politics, I’ve come to realize that some of those who talk loudest about the Lord are some of His worst disciples.
Track records and voting records say much more about politicians than ads do. And I’ll take an honest atheist over a corrupt “Christian” any day of the week.
I also want specifics over platitudes. And in Orange County, we need lots of specifics … because we have a lot of problems.
Our wages are some of the lowest of any major metro in America. Opioids have claimed a life here every other day. Affordable housing is scant. Transit options, particularly bus services, are inadequate.
I guarantee you there isn’t a candidate who won’t agree with all of those facts — and vow to fix it. But how? Please turn to MAXWELL, B2